My Spring project is finally to put in a dream tank into my basement.
I plan to have the aquarium in-wall on a corner with one of the short edges also visible. There will be a decent-sized fish room behind the display tank.

I am looking at three tanks...

First is the Marineland Deep Dimension aquarium with a 72x36x27 footprint.
Second is a Great Lakes Aquarium 245 show with a 72 1/8x30 1/8x26 1/4 footprint.
Finally is a Great Lakes Aquarium 320 with a 96x30 1/8x26 1/4 footprint.

I really like the DD tank as a 36" width is pretty amazing. But, the corner overflow will force me to be creative to hide it and still place the tank on a corner in the room.

I have heard great things about Great Lakes Aquariums and since I live in Michigan, I could save on shipping! It looks like they have a lot of nice options and I can get the 320 for less than the DD.
So what do you think, a six foot or eight foot tank?

Also, does anyone have good advice on building the in-wall stand? How high? 30" or 36"? I've built freestanding stands before, just not in-wall.

320 all the way. You can keep larger tangs and fish in an 8 foot tank. 36" tall stand if you plan on putting a sump under it. This will give you more options for skimmers assuming you are doing an in sump skimmer.

I like the 8' long myself so that would be my choice. I would also keep in mind, how wide are your doors in your house? I would have no way of getting a 36" wide tank into the house. 30" might be pushing it without removing the door stops on the frames lol.

Wow don't worry about doors, I went 72x36x36, had it delivered flat packed and got them to make the tank in my basement, I love the 36inch height and width, and I'm pretty sure the fish love it too (they never said they didn't LoL)
At the end of the day, the bigger you go, the more the pumps, waves, heaters, lights and skimmers cost..................... But it's only money and when your dead who cares Spend it now and enjoy life.

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